BAGHDAD, Oct 12: Iraq's ousted president Saddam Hussein, in US custody since his arrest 10 months ago, underwent a hernia operation two weeks ago at a Baghdad hospital, an Iraqi minister and a US official said Tuesday.

"The former president is in good health. He underwent a hernia operation at Ibn Sina hospital and it was successful," interim Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin said. Ibn Sina, which treated the elite under Saddam's regime, is located inside the fortified Green Zone compound in Baghdad that now houses the interim government and the US embassy.

A US official in charge of detainees in Iraq also confirmed Saddam's operation. "It was a standard procedure without complications and the problem has been relieved as a result of the surgery," he said. "Overall, he remains in good health."

A delegation from the International Committee for the Red Cross met with Saddam in his detention facility in early October, said spokeswoman Nada Dumani without commenting on the surgery. -AFP